If You’re Homesick, will a Home Base Help?

Every few months David and I have a stupid argument. Well, we have a lot of stupid arguments, but every few months we have one particular stupid argument. It usually starts in one of two ways: either I’m sulking around, generally homesick and looking to pick a fight, or, David’s annoyed that I haven’t done the dishes in a while.

In the second case, here’s how it goes.

David: Do you mind doing the dishes? (In a particular tone to which I take offense).

Sarah: Yeah, I do. You left the sponge all full of gross water again.

David: Well, I’ve done the dishes the last few times and I don’t feel like doing them again.

Sarah: (Commence one-upping) Well, I always get Spencer dressed and brush his teeth in the mornings. And you know I hate doing dishes when we have a tiny sink. I hate this kitchen. I’m sick of living like this.

In the first case:

Sarah: I’m tired of moving around. I want to go back home.

David: That’s like me saying I’m tired of you writing. When you say that to me, it’s like you’re attacking my dream.

Sarah: Well, I’ve done this for a year now and I’m sick of it. WHY CAN’T I HAVE A CAT?!

Poor David. At the end of the argument, David asks me what exactly I’m unhappy about. When I list the reasons that I’m homesick, they sound ridiculous but they’re important to me. When I’m homesick, it usually comes down to four things:

Not having a pet. Since I’ve been an adult, I haven’t been able to keep a pet for longer than a year or two at most. I feel very angry about this. I grew up with pets as a part of our family, pets who slept at the foot of the bed and kept you company when you were sick. Now, I watch cute cat porn to remember what it feels like when a cat turns her head into your hand, presents her cheek for scratching, who purrs into your ear.

Cooking. On the road, our kitchens usually aren’t big enough to cook in comfortably. It’s also not practical to lug a spice cabinet around the world. When we lived in South Africa, I was in cooking heaven. I had a deep freezer that allowed me to buy in bulk. I had three ponderous tomes full of delicious recipes. I had the satisfaction of using up extra ingredients, of saving money, and of making nutritious meals for my family. I also loved it when I made a meal David really liked. Since we’ve been traveling, I feel unhealthy. I feel like I don’t have control over my own diet. About half the meals I eat are bland, and for sustenance only.

Having a comfortable bed. I really miss soft sheets, a great mattress, a fluffy comforter. More often than not, our beds on the road are stiff and have cheap linens. It’s not having only five outfits that makes me feel deprived. Sleeping in a shitty bed makes me feel deprived.

The Pacific Northwest. The land from whose soil I was molded. I miss the rich loamy smell. I miss the cloud formations in early fall. The wild violent rivers and forests of evergreen trees. The knowledge of who I am when I’m running along a dirt trail that winds along a river, and it’s raining, and there’s not another soul around for miles.

Only one of these things is actually about missing a specific place. I can’t really cite my family as one of the reasons for being homesick, because I’m incredibly lucky to be able to see them twice a year or more, if they come visit me. These things are about having a home, period.

We’ve been away from the U.S. for four and a half years, but it’s only been a year since we’ve had a home and it’s only now that I’m starting to notice this cat-sitting-on-a-comforter-shaped hole in my heart.

I’m curious about how other nomads feel about this inability to have a home. How many of you ever feel homesick? How many nomads have at least one home base to which they return for part of the year–a place where they keep spice cabinets and nice comforters?

David is that breed of nomad whose wanderlust is insatiable. His feet are constantly itchy. I tease him about how much time he spends looking forward to our next destination vs. how much he lives in the moment and enjoys where we are. So, as in all marriages, we’ve come to a place where compromise and empathy are necessary once again, just as it was when we agreed to try this crazy experiment. Until David told me he felt like I was attacking his dream, I didn’t realize that my whining sounded like a personal attack to him. Until I reminded him that he got me a kitten for Valentines Day in 2014 and asked me to find it a new home in 2015, it hadn’t occurred to him how much of a dick move that was.

So, we’re at the point of looking for a home base. Since our savings constitute the money that David uses to trade every day, buying property isn’t an option. We’re considering applying for temporary residence in Mexico and leasing a comfortable home for a year. Now we know that when we look at houses and apartments, good beds and roomy kitchens are requisite. David reminded me that I was completely happy in Zagreb, because our apartment was awesome and I cooked regularly. We might have to spend a little more to get a house we really like, but we can make it work.

If we solve these two things, that’s half my homesick list taken care of. Unfortunately, I can’t just go live in a cabin in Washington, but I can always hold out for retirement. In the meantime, I enjoy my visits home as much as I looked forward to Christmas as a kid, and it’s pretty hard to maintain that feeling of magic and wonder as an adult. I also can’t get a cat, but I can look into local shelters and see if fostering or volunteering is an option.

If you’re a frequent traveler, what are the things that leave holes in your heart if left unattended? What are the compromises about travel, and housing, that you’ve reached as a family? Are you more like David, content to wander forever, or like me, occasionally missing a sense of stability?

We definitely miss having pets! So far we have done two international housesits and they were great for the time periods but almost left me a little more heart-broken! I get really attached to animals! We actually do have two sweet plump kitties at home that live with my dad now. We will get to visit them and my darling family cat of 14 when we go home for Christmas. We would ultimately like to buy property and have a home base but it’s nowhere near realistic for us right now. Staying in places longer and choosing places that can provide that extra bit of comfort definitely helps, though. For example, we used to stay in Airbnb rooms more but now we opt to stay longer (to bring down the price) and have only places to ourselves. We feel a lot more at home. Having a comfortable place in general is nice. I have to agree, an uncomfortable bed is definitely not a help.

It sounds like we’re going through a lot of the same things! It’s nice to know that we’re not the only ones. Definitely agreed that having a comfortable place to yourself is a big help. We also just can’t buy property yet, so I suppose those visits to our parents and the pets there will have to suffice! Hope you have a great trip back for Christmas 🙂

I can definitely relate to a few things you mention! For starters, I missed my patents a lot. And the idea that they didn’t get to see their grandson often was keeping me up at night. However, we found the perfect solution: they are in the process of buying an RV so we can travel together!
Now that we have expanded our family with a new born baby girl, there’s an extra advantage… They can babysit! 😉

Having this exact same problem myself, after moving my family constantly. Sometimes I just miss being able to buy nicer appliances and not having to get rid of them. Sounds a bit materialistic, but it’s things like having to buy an iron and thinking, man I really don’t want to have to buy another iron next year(just because we moved). and giving in to the “well, we might as well have ikea furniture if we’re going to move again!”

Howdy!

We’re Sarah, David and Spencer, a digital nomad family with a passion for helping families live a richer, more fulfilling, life through travel. In July 2015 we resigned from our 9-5's, sold everything & went nomad. We created this blog to share the nomad reality: good, bad, and always exciting.